This past April, a lesbian couple sued a photographer for declining to photograph their wedding. The the New Mexico Human Rights Commission ordered the photographer to pay over $6000 as a discrimination settlement.

Now, naturally, the New Mexico Human Rights Commission doesn’t actually have much to do with human rights, because it’s a government program. (Human rights: yes, photographers are human, too.) It’s like the Internal Revenue “Service”— No thanks, guys; you’ve “served” me enough already. Or the Department of Education, which marks the spot where American education is buried. Or… Well, you get the point.

Apparently, the lesbians were hurt and upset that someone might not agree with their lifestyle. No, I’m not exaggerating. Here’s what one of the couple said at the hearing before the Commission, as quoted by NPR:

There was a shock and anger and fear. … We were planning a very happy day for us, and we’re being met with hatred. That’s how it felt.

In response, Patrick McIlheran said, “Sounded to me more like a simple matter of declining a job on account of religious beliefs, but that apparently now constitutes ‘hatred.’”

Similarly, Jennifer Morse opined, “Lesbian law suit abolishes the private sector.”

She wrote that back in February. Just today, she rejoiced that “we won” on California Proposition 8.

So apparently, she has no problem when government forces lesbian couples not to marry, based on her religious beliefs, but she gets bent out of shape when that same government takes pity on them for feeling the hatred of her religion.

The Christians lobby the government to delegitimize lesbianism, because otherwise, the lesbians would succeed in lobbying the government to delegitimize Christianity. The argument is no longer about moral belief versus lifestyle. Each side now is fighting with fire, and the side that loses is going to be victimized, literally and directly. So each side digs in its heels, deeper and deeper.

We’re waging our own private little war. And I warned against it, over 4 years ago, just after gay marriage came to Massachusetts:

Even if we could at this moment win in Massachusetts, we wouldn’t be able to stop the gay marriages popping up like up whack-a-moles around the country…

Don’t I trust in God? Doesn’t He have the power, even against the odds, to pound down all those moles? Yes of course He does, if He wanted to. But God doesn’t want to. God doesn’t even care.

To the extent He does care, He sides with the homosexuals. God lets us make choices for a reason. He wants a relationship, freely given and freely received. So He lets us make poor choices as well as good ones. He doesn’t force us to follow Him, and neither does he force others. Is God’s kingdom a kingdom of men, enforced by the sword? Or is it a kingdom of His Spirit, enabled by His grace through faith in Christ?

God is real. He can use us. He can change sinners’ hearts. I believe in hope and prayer and persuasion, with meekness. It’s in there. Read it again! Paul said it to Timothy and to Titus. He urged us to pray, rather than to make political enemies, “that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” Peter wrote about it. Read it in the last chapters of Romans. In doing what is right, as much as is possible live at peace with everybody, so that we can have an effective witness.

What does God have to do with politics? Politics means strife. He cares about people. He accomplishes more in one day in our families and jobs and churches and in our other relationships, more than our government programs have accomplished in our lifetimes. I know I can’t depend on the politicians I see, but I can depend on the all-powerful Invisible. In the end, that takes the more faith.

And so I’m disheartened, because the fight goes on. It’s a fight we can’t win, not by God’s standards, because it’s impossible to love the sinner while you approve of the gun pointed at him. And if you think there’s no gun, then what power do we expect the government to use? Maybe we really are just trying to keep a divine institution, just trying to live without having immorality forced on us. But we’re doing it the wrong way, fighting over government power.

We’re supposed to be better than that. Do we trust in God? Or do we need to resort to government force? (And if force doesn’t come into it, then what’s all the fuss?) In a political war, even if we win, we lose. We lose not just the homosexuals but everyone else, too. We’re just another one of the warlords, and the peasants get caught in the middle. Even if we conquer the land, the people will hate us. That’s already the biggest obstacle I face; before people even want to hear about Jesus, first I must convince them that I’m not out to get them.

If God’s word is clear about sex, how much clearer is it on Godly love? That message is written on practically every page. We’ve puzzled so long over the lesser issues, we can no longer see the basic morality in peaceful evangelism. Far more insidious than any form of sexual immorality is the sin of statism.

This war has been going on long enough that we don’t even remember who lobbed the first salvo. Uh— Actually, I do remember. It was the Christians.

-TimK